Our Farewell Party

On Saturday night we gathered with our dear friends (The Borhorfoush's, Huffstetler's, Johnson's, Jonas', Tidwell's, McKenzie's, Green's, and Nix's) for a farewell send off party before we move to Gulfport this week. Leaving all of them is the absolute hardest thing we have ever had to do, but we know our friendships with them will last a lifetime. We have so many roots here and have called Birmingham home since 2002. Moving to Gulfport is a great career opportunity for Eric, and it will put us a lot closer to family...so for that we are very grateful. We are all called at one point in our life to leave our "comfort zone" in order to go where God is leading us. Eric and I are very obedient to God's plan for our life and have felt His hand over us throughout this whole process/new journey He is leading us to. We are going to miss this town so much, especially Church of the Highlands. As Eric and I walked out the main entrance of church yesterday morning with tears rolling down our faces...we knew and felt that God was taking us away for a reason and all we could do was thank him for what lies ahead.

Nolan & Whit

My best friend Lizzy and I see each other pretty often during the week, so our kids have grown up playing together from day one. Nolan just loves Whit and always gets so excited everytime he sees him. 2 weeks ago we took the kids to the park and I snapped a few pics of Nolan trying to do everything Whit was doing. They kinda posed for a pic at the end.

The Monkey's Treehouse - Nashville

Our last fun play day in Nashville was on Thursday so I decided to take Nolan to this huge indoor playground called The Monkey's Treehouse. This place was incredible...every child's dream... and I believe they should have one in every town across America! It was just that cool! The main feature in this giant playroom was a huge wooden treehouse that had 4 different rooms the kids could climb into, a wiggly bridge for the kids to cross at the top before going down 1 of 2 swirly slides, and a rope climbing wall coming down in the back. There was also a big sandbox, lots of tumbling and climbing squares that Nolan could crawl into, over, or on top of - a huge hit with him! There was also a small art center, a pretend grocery store and full kitchen area and a whole lot of other play stations that could keep any child busy for hours. Nolan had a blast the 2 hours we were there and came home to take a 4 hour nap!! Needless to say he played really hard and I was right behind him snapping lots of pictures while he explored!

Nolan at 18 months

I've been such a bad blogger the last 2 months and just realized I forgot to post Nolan's 18 month pics on Feb. 2nd! Anyhow, he's a full blown toddler, getting into absolutely anything and everything...including climbing onto bigger pieces of furniture and quickly up stairs. He's extremely active so we have to keep a close eye on him at the park or anytime we're outside of the house. Nolan has also picked up an increased interest in cars and had to play in a sporty 2 seat convertible last night for 2 hours while Eric bought a new truck. He thought we were taking the sports car home and was very upset when it was time to leave! He also has a new love for Curious George and Elmo...saying their names frequently these days. Aside from his active side, he has also increased his vocab and tries to repeat most things we say when we ask "Nolan can you say....", and loves for you to point at pictures and have him repeat what they are in his books.

Julia Ann Shirah

Our neighbors and dear friends the Shirah's welcomed their first born, Julia Ann "Julie", on February 6th. She is so precious and we couldn't wait to meet her! Nolan missed Mrs. Krystie so much that he had to climb in the bed with her to give her a hug & kiss! Here's a few pics from our hospital visit: